The questions hit the two of them early in their NFL lives, week after week, game after game, repeated often enough so that Will Allen and Will Peterson quickly understood the drill.

Inquiring minds wanted to know: What do you think of [fill in the blank with name of opponents’ top receiver] and how, with so little experience, can you possibly hope to stop him?

The past few days, as the Giants ready themselves to open their season Sunday against the usually high-flying Rams at Giants Stadium, the cornerback duo was asked to comment about Isaac Bruce and Torry Holt, the St. Louis receivers who form one of the league’s best tandems. The bombardment, though, wasn’t as intense and certainly not as skeptical.

“Now that you mention it, yeah,” Allen said. “I remember you guys used to come in here with the questions like ‘You got such-and-such this week, what you gonna do?’ Now we don’t get it that much. It’s cool, being under the radar like that.”

Both Allen and Peterson would prefer a change of focus to the questions, in keeping with what they believe is an upgrade in their standing on the team and in the respect they’ve gained among their peers.

“What are THEY going to do against us?” Allen said. “That’s the point we need to get to. We’re working to get there, I don’t know if we’re there yet.”

They’ll find out soon enough. It appears this edition of Rams coach Mike Martz’ flying circus, unlike previous outfits, does not include the dangerous third receiving option, making this more of a true confrontation, Giants corners vs. Rams starting wideouts. The buzz for more than a year is that in Allen and Peterson, both entering their third seasons, the Giants have one of the best young cornerback pairs in the NFL. Matchups like this help determine if such talk is conjecture or reality.

There are no signs that Allen and Peterson are over-hyped. The two, sharing a first name, position, adjacent lockers and a fast friendship, look and play differently but are alike in their competitive zeal and work ethic. Allen is faster, able to make up for mistakes with his speed, and more fluid, while Peterson is bigger, stronger, and rangier. Allen arrived as a first-round draft pick, Peterson a surprise choice in the third round, and from the moment each stepped on the field they were unafraid, an attitude that endeared them to teammates.

Peterson has started 17 games and Allen 27 the past two years and both have gone up against the game’s best receivers. They oblige when asked to laud their opponents. “They’re good receivers and it’s a great offensive scheme,” Allen said of the Rams’ duo. “You just got to get ready and be prepared because they’re going to attack you in different ways.”

In the two games between the teams the past two years, Bruce has 12 catches and Holt 11, but neither has reached 100 receiving yards or scored a touchdown. “When I was a rookie going in there everyone else was expecting oh man, these Rams receivers, what are they going to do to the rookie corner, how is he going to hold up?” Peterson recalled. “We’ve held up for two years. I’ve established I can play in this league, so now it’s taking it to that next level.”

The Giants need their cornerbacks to do more than just hold up. Allen had four interceptions as a rookie but only one last season, in the opener. Peterson has three career interceptions. “It’s that time now,” Allen said. “Before maybe they were thinking we want these guys to go out and play solid, where now they expect us to go out and play great.”